US to declare 23 species extinct, including 11 birds, 8 mussels and a bat

It means that officials are calling off the search and that the creatures are thought to be beyond saving.

On Wednesday, the agencycataloged 23 species it has determined are now extinct.

The ivory-billed woodpecker was once the country’s largest bird of its kind.

The last confirmed sighting in the US was in 1944 in Louisiana.

One of those birds, Kauai nukupu’u, was last seen in Hawaii in 1899.

The Endangered Species Act is intended to protect threatened animals and plants and to help their populations recover.

Delisting these species is sad news, but the act has had a tangible impact.